Baby bump photos end up as fetish fodder on social media

PHOTO: Facebook

PETALING JAYA - Expecting mothers have been warned to think twice before posting photos of their baby bumps on social media lest they become fodder for perverts with a pregnant women fetish.

That was what Facebook user Athirah Arshad stumbled upon while browsing through online blogging site Tumblr - images of pregnant women with lewd captions.

"I was looking for information about pregnancy online, and I decided to log onto Tumblr. I was really shocked to read the captions that accompanied those photos," she told The Star.

The photo captions, which were attributed to the images of tudung-clad pregnant women, contained sexual innuendos written in Malay.

"I've not come across anything like this before, and I am encountering it on Tumblr for the first time. I believe there are a lot of (smut materials) like this on the site," Athirah said, adding that she took several screenshots before turning off her computer.

The 21-year-old food stall operator from Seri Manjung had first censored the faces of those mothers before posting the screencaps on her Facebook as a friendly reminder to mothers-to-be to think twice before uploading their baby bump pictures onto social media.

"I'm aware that there are people who are extremely horny out there, that even pregnant mothers can become models.

"This is so dumb! What kind of humans are they?" she wrote in a post.

Athirah also expressed hope that the authorities, including the police and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) would take action against the individuals for posting such materials online.

Her post had been shared over 5,600 times, with many Facebook users feeling disgusted and angry over the matter.

Facebook user Nurul Amirah Aimie wrote that she was aware of such horrible people online.